The Best of the Innocence and Experience Era

[dan_smee]

I’ve been thinking with this era now done and dusted, it was worth looking back at the best bits of the period that started with the release of Ordinary Love. I’d love to hear the main highlights of the era for you - best new tunes, tour highlights, personal stories... it’s up to you. For me:

New songs:

When the dust settles, I think it is clear that these two albums are a substantial step up from NLOTH.

Invisible - I am a sucker for a rousing U2 chorus. I also like to hear them exploring new sounds, and there was something really endearing about the introduction to their introspective period.

Every Breaking Wave - this songs drips catchiness and quality. I love everything about it - the melody, the chords, the way Bono’s vocals soar in the final chorus.

Raised By Wolves - Bono in evocative lyric mode, loved the vocal effects, the jarring guitars. Edge got some attitude back.

The Troubles - the first in a series of winding melodies in this period. In years to come, I will really associate this period with Bono exploring vocal melodies, and Adam exploring real bass lines.

Love is All We Have Left - The first example of U2 exercising restraint since One Step Closer, this one catches in my chest every time.

Red Flag Day - fun U2 returns, but collided with early 80s U2. This one is a “never skip” for me.

The Little Things That Give You Away - This is the real triumph of this era. It’s dark, it’s emotive, it builds, it pays off, it is lyrical, it has all members firing, its atmospheric, and it just fucking rules.

Love is Bigger Than Anything in its Way - I didn’t know they could write crowd pleasers like this any more. Just a great pop song with great messages.

Bonus songs - how great was it to get some b sides or equivalents. And they were ALL very good - Lucifer’s Hands, The Crystal Ballroom, and The Book of Your Heart were worthy additions to this era.

Tours:

The screen - what an innovation. The first time I saw Cedarwood Rd videos on YouTube and Bono was IN THE SCREEN it was just wild. They continue to be innovation leaders, and their relevance really does rest with their ability to change the way tours run and look.

The songs - we finally got live versions of Red Hill Mining Town and Acrobat. Acrobat was incredible. We saw the return of A Sort of Homecoming, Exit, One Tree Hill, Trip Through Your Wires, Running to Stand Still, In God’s Country, Mother’s of the Disappeared, New Year’s Day’s final verse, Wild Horses, Zoo Station, Stay, October, Sweetest Thing, When Love Comes to Town, Two Hearts Beat as One, Miracle Drug, Satellite of Love, The Ocean, full band Desire, All Because of You, Staring at the Sun and The Unforgettable Fire.

 

[super fly guy]

I would add The Blackout to that list of great songs.

 

[superchuk5]

An era of incredible live confidence, as evidenced by the loads of new material played on each tour - SOI and SOE each had 12 songs performed live, which after only featuring 7 NLOTH songs on 360 is incredible (excluding the unreleased songs from 2010, but even those didn’t get a ton of play. This confidence also shows up in the warhorses that got less play: One only showed up at half of the IE shows, SBS sat out the last 3rd of EI, and the Joshua tree sat out EI entirely.

But for better or worse, this era will likely be defined in the public conscious by the SOI debacle. Too bad because it overshadows two great late-period albums and some incredible live shows.

 

[cobl04]

JT30 is the only redeeming feature of the last five years.

 

[An Cat Gav]

I’ve been thinking with this era now done and dusted, it was worth looking back at the best bits of the period that started with the release of Ordinary Love. I’d love to hear the main highlights of the era for you - best new tunes, tour highlights, personal stories... it’s up to you. For me:

New songs:

When the dust settles, I think it is clear that these two albums are a substantial step up from NLOTH.

Invisible - I am a sucker for a rousing U2 chorus. I also like to hear them exploring new sounds, and there was something really endearing about the introduction to their introspective period.

Every Breaking Wave - this songs drips catchiness and quality. I love everything about it - the melody, the chords, the way Bono’s vocals soar in the final chorus.

Raised By Wolves - Bono in evocative lyric mode, loved the vocal effects, the jarring guitars. Edge got some attitude back.

The Troubles - the first in a series of winding melodies in this period. In years to come, I will really associate this period with Bono exploring vocal melodies, and Adam exploring real bass lines.

Love is All We Have Left - The first example of U2 exercising restraint since One Step Closer, this one catches in my chest every time.

Red Flag Day - fun U2 returns, but collided with early 80s U2. This one is a “never skip” for me.

The Little Things That Give You Away - This is the real triumph of this era. It’s dark, it’s emotive, it builds, it pays off, it is lyrical, it has all members firing, its atmospheric, and it just fucking rules.

Love is Bigger Than Anything in its Way - I didn’t know they could write crowd pleasers like this any more. Just a great pop song with great messages.

Bonus songs - how great was it to get some b sides or equivalents. And they were ALL very good - Lucifer’s Hands, The Crystal Ballroom, and The Book of Your Heart were worthy additions to this era.

Tours:

The screen - what an innovation. The first time I saw Cedarwood Rd videos on YouTube and Bono was IN THE SCREEN it was just wild. They continue to be innovation leaders, and their relevance really does rest with their ability to change the way tours run and look.

The songs - we finally got live versions of Red Hill Mining Town and Acrobat. Acrobat was incredible. We saw the return of A Sort of Homecoming, Exit, One Tree Hill, Trip Through Your Wires, Running to Stand Still, In God’s Country, Mother’s of the Disappeared, New Year’s Day’s final verse, Wild Horses, Zoo Station, Stay, October, Sweetest Thing, When Love Comes to Town, Two Hearts Beat as One, Miracle Drug, Satellite of Love, The Ocean, full band Desire, All Because of You, Staring at the Sun and The Unforgettable Fire.

Really good idea, great post.

I agree with pretty much everything you've said here other than I still can't get into Love is Bigger for whatever reason.

I'd add Reach Around, Sleep Like A baby, California and Summer of Love to your list of great songs.

It's a real shame that Invisible and Every Breaking Wave didn't become bigger hits, if they had been released in earlier decades I'm sure they would have been and sat amongst the pantheon of U2's greatest hits.

 

[super fly guy]

JT30 is the only redeeming feature of the last five years.

Time to hand in your membership card.

 

[JoRu]

A rocky start, with an album that wanted to harken back to their younger days, but did so in a way that just made it feel old and weary instead of inspired, and live shows that I thought were good rather than great. However, I'm a big fan of SoE; ironically, considering all the talk that SoI was all about the songs, SoE had a considerably better collection of songs. The melodies were better, the production felt lighter and more energetic, and it's overall just more pleasing to listen to.

They also had a few pretty great performances such as the Tonight Show performance (BTBS in particular was fire) and the BBC Music concert with the orchestra. Definitely an optimistic, good end to this era.

 

[digitize]

What’s the consensus of SOE vs. SOI? I too have a strong preference for SOE.

It’s mainly because the top songs on SOE are so strong. Little Things, Love Is Bigger, and Landlady are truly excellent, probably better than any single song on SOI for me. I also really like Lights of Home and have a soft spot for both Best Thing and, actually, GOO Your Own Way.

By contrast, I like California, EBW Take II, The Miracle, and The Troubles, but really at the level of second-tier SOE songs. California sometimes bubbles higher because it triggers personal nostalgia. But certainly nothing rises up to Little Things level. Maybe fitting that the best song of the era came from the NLOTH sessions originally...

The rest of both albums are fairly mediocre in my view. And I guess they both have narratives (well, more like themes), but neither is captivating in the sense that Zooropa’s is.

 

[kabigon]

I did a quick re-ranking of SOI/SOE, putting songs in great/good/eh categories.

Great: SOI/SOE 4 each
Good: SOI/SOE 3 each
Eh: SOI 4 / SOE 5

More even than I remember.

While they're both better than NLOTH, they continue the tradition of having three songs near the start of the album that kill the momentum before most of the stronger songs appear in the second half. (I put California in my "great" category, the next-earliest songs were #7 Red Flag Day and #9 Sleep Like a Baby Tonight/Little Things).

 

[LemonMelon]

JT30 is the only redeeming feature of the last five years.

Harsh but not totally unfair.

My favorite song on SOE is Love Is Bigger and I'm not sure it would crack my top 5 if it were on NLOTH.

 

[Iggy Fizz]

JT30 was a horrible cash grab and largely built to capture casuals. 1st half of show was admittedly pretty great with the visuals, but 2nd half was a pure sleeper and cring worthy with all the lame politico BS and women's rights posturing.

Can't see why anyone would rank this higher than the I+E tour (I did not see E+I so can't really comment).

 

[LemonMelon]

I can. One tour featured a large majority of songs from their greatest era. The other was saddled with 21st century songs.

 

[dabiggestu2fan]

Book of your heart is my favourite of this era and one of my favorites of u2 2000’s.

 

[U2girl]

JT30 is the only redeeming feature of the last five years.

Uh-huh.

 

[U2girl]

The best ? The tour with the Barricage (I consider I/E and E/I two halves of the same story). While I would have liked at least some of SOI songs at Milan show I attended, I'm grateful for so much of AB/Stay/Gloria/IWF/NYD on the last leg.

Songs ? Cedarwood Road/Raised by wolves, Blackout and Love is bigger... can return to the setlist any time. EBW and Little things can be added to the pantheon of great U2 songs.

SOI is to these ears the best since AB. Consistently good, strong theme.

 

[U2girl]

JT30 was a horrible cash grab and largely built to capture casuals. 1st half of show was admittedly pretty great with the visuals, but 2nd half was a pure sleeper and cring worthy with all the lame politico BS and women's rights posturing.

Can't see why anyone would rank this higher than the I+E tour (I did not see E+I so can't really comment).

I guess Live Nation put their foot down.

The worst was the encore - instead of adding JT B-sides or Rattle and Hum songs they conjured a mess of 90's/00's tunes/Best thing+Little things that just didn't work.

Was good to see at least some energy and ideas from Bono on Exit though. (another one that is welcome in the setlist any time)

 

[AndrewCowley]

I guess Live Nation put their foot down.

Was hilarious watching people here in denial about this. JT30 was a band that got their arse kicked and forced to go and make some money for their masters. No suprise then that the show as a whole was as close to U2 phoning it in has ever gotten. Very lazy.

 

[danm]

The best thing to come out of this era for me is the SOE album. It’s the most consistently good U2 album for a long time. It is far better than SOI in my opinion, streets ahead of NLOTH, which was so uneven in quality.

I’m really glad that on the E+I tour, once they got round to Europe they dropped the SOI section from the show and added in some more deep cuts. I saw them on I+E so that would have been a bit of a reshash. Hearing songs like Acrobat, Stay, Wild Horses, Zoo Station, The Fly etc was brilliant.

I also saw them on the JT30 tour so got my fill of JT songs last summer, so actually didn’t really miss them on the E+I tour.

One downer is that they didn’t play The Little Things once on this tour, which in my opinion is the best of the new songs from this era. I know they played it almost every night on the JT30 tour but back then the album hadn’t been released and no one knew the song.

 

[kabigon]

It's funny people being so adamant about a show being 'phoned in' that they didn't even see.

 

[Zephyrpilot]

SOI is thematically tight. Great to listen to start to finish

 

[kabigon]

One downer is that they didn’t play The Little Things once on this tour, which in my opinion is the best of the new songs from this era. I know they played it almost every night on the JT30 tour but back then the album hadn’t been released and no one knew the song.

They played it 14 out of 51 shows. Yet they persisted with that closing setlist position for it in 12 of those, and it was played second-last in the other two, it didn't have much of a chance in that gotta-beat-the-traffic stadium crowd. Hope it gets another run sometime.

 

[An Cat Gav]

SOI is thematically tight. Great to listen to start to finish

Absolutely, it's an album I keep coming back to and each time it feels fresh.

Songs of Experience on the other hand has about 5 or 6 really good songs but the rest I can take or leave at best and I don't feel the theme is as consistent as on SoI. It's probably the only U2 album that I haven't felt compelled to listen to endlessly on repeat upon its release and I doubt I will come back to listen to it that often.

 

[tongueinmyear]

An era when I got to see U2 on 3 tours, with I&E and E&I being my favourite U2 tours I've seen (not a coincidence the only arena shows I've seen them).

2 new albums, both of which I enjoyed but particularly SOE. It's taken a high spot in my U2 rankings.

Some great additional songs and b-sides, Invisible being a favourite.

 

[womanfish]

Hey all. Stopping back in for a bit.

SOI and SOE to me are the band's best work since POP. I would take them way over Bomb and No Line.

IMO they are painfully close in quality.

SOI has top tier songs like:
EBW, Raised By Wolves, Sleep LIke a Baby, and The Troubles.

SOE more than matches it with:
Love is All..., Lights, Summer of Love, Red Flag Day, Little Things, Landlady, Love is Bigger and 13

They both have some good solid listens, but not greatness:
SOI - California, Iris, Volcano, Reach and Cedarwood
SOE - Best Thing, Get Out and The Blackout

And they both have a couple stinkers
SOI - Miracle and SFS
SOE - American Soul and The Showman

Both have an amazing bonus track that should have been on the albums, Crystal Ballroom and Book of your Heart.

I lean towards SOE a bit. I think its a bit more consistent and has more high tier songs IMO. But both are very solid albums which land in the middle of U2 catalog for me.

 

[The_acrobat]

I have literally no complaints. September 2014-Now has been a great time to be a U2 fan. I like both albums really well. I’d lean a little bit towards SOI as an overall thematic piece of work. I feel like I was there in 1970s Dublin.

But I think SOE has higher heights than SOI does. Now that we’re approaching the 1 year anniversary, I’m starting to be very nostalgic for SOE. Love it!

As for JT30, it was very cool to see some of those rare songs played. But overall, I feel like the band were sort of going through the motions on that one. They seemed much more excited about what they were doing in 2015 and 2018. However, JT came to Cleveland and Indianapolis, and I was able to sleep in my own bed after those shows, so there’s that.

 

[cobl04]

Time to hand in your membership card.

Why?

My favorite song on SOE is Love Is Bigger and I'm not sure it would crack my top 5 if it were on NLOTH.

Agree.

JT30 was a horrible cash grab and largely built to capture casuals. 1st half of show was admittedly pretty great with the visuals, but 2nd half was a pure sleeper and cring worthy with all the lame politico BS and women's rights posturing.

Can't see why anyone would rank this higher than the I+E tour (I did not see E+I so can't really comment).

Fucking lol. You're so trapped in your ideology that you're offended by two very simple and not even controversial 'political' moments. 'Largely built to capture casuals' I flew half way across the world for it.

Was hilarious watching people here in denial about this. JT30 was a band that got their arse kicked and forced to go and make some money for their masters. No suprise then that the show as a whole was as close to U2 phoning it in has ever gotten. Very lazy.

Did you even see it? This is idiotic.

 

[aviastar]

I went to all three tours (2 shows on JT30). Aside from relatively static playlists, I think all three tours were great. The only moment that felt was really phoned in was RHMT. I wish they had played that more like the record.

Other than that we’ve had two solid albums of music and three really fun tours. Enjoy these moments while they are here because we don’t know when the next time they will come around again.

 

[DaveC]

2nd half was a pure sleeper and cring worthy with all the lame politico BS and women's rights posturing.

your honor i'd like to present exhibit #4,080 in the case of "iggy fizz is the lamest most obvious alt ever"

 

[ChurchBay]

A rocky start, with an album that wanted to harken back to their younger days, but did so in a way that just made it feel old and weary instead of inspired, and live shows that I thought were good rather than great. However, I'm a big fan of SoE; ironically, considering all the talk that SoI was all about the songs, SoE had a considerably better collection of songs. The melodies were better, the production felt lighter and more energetic, and it's overall just more pleasing to listen to.

They also had a few pretty great performances such as the Tonight Show performance (BTBS in particular was fire) and the BBC Music concert with the orchestra. Definitely an optimistic, good end to this era.

Agree with every word of this.

Given that SOI, as you note, was meant to be a return to proper song writing it's stark just how average it sounds when compared to the tighter, more natural and fresh flow of most of the tunes on Songs of Experience. I think the short recording cycle of Songs of Experience forced them to trust their own instincts more and I suspect the arduous and stop/start process of recording SOI meant that they totally overcooked it. It sounds terribly sterile at times and the raw aggression of 'youth' that some of the songs promised just don't shine through, though they did remedy that somewhat on stage.

 

[prbiker15]

The very first era of this band’s career that I experienced from start to finish, which is why it will always be a special one.

Although I’m still sad that I didn’t catch a show on i+e or e+i, at least I went to JT30.

Songs of Innocence is their best album since ATYCLB, and was the soundtrack to my sophomore year in college.

Songs of Experience is a mostly great sequel that includes one of the best songs they’ve released since Pop.

American Soul is still this era’s biggest disappointment, but I digress...